I'm in British Columbia this week—Victoria and Vancouver to be exact—visiting some old friends.

Aside from the usual upsides of travel—a change of pace, some days off work, the excitement of seeing new places—it's been a reminder of a couple things.

The first: making the most of where you are. It's been raining almost constantly since I've arrived (which, depending who you ask, only lasts a couple months), but it hasn't put a damper on the weekend.

On the contrary, we've gone to the driving range (covered and heated), read, played board games, explored some restaurants, gone for a hike, and sat outside under a tent by a fire drinking cider.

The same applies to winters in Quebec and Montreal, or any other situation that may not seem ideal.

They are what you make of them.

The second reminder: your friends, and who you spend time with, shape your life.

Visiting friends immediately gives you some new friends. As a visitor, you're adopted into the friend group right away.

It's a great way to meet new people, but it also gives you an outside perspective on a friend group. You see how different friends interact, and their different personalities, and it reminds you of your own friends, their characteristics, and how that shapes your life.

Nothing makes your life better than good people to spend it with.

Hope you have a great week.

Graham

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Links

📚 Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson - I finally read Snow Crash, the book that introduced the term "Metaverse." It has long been a popular book in the tech world, and Facebook announcing they were now "Meta" felt like good timing. What's crazy about the book is how real and possible it feels, despite the book being written in 1992.

📖 So what is "the metaverse," exactly? - Ars Technica - This is a good primer on what the metaverse actually is, how it relates to Facebook, and some of the key defining attributes.

📖 Shop Class as Soulcraft - Matthew B. Crawford - One of my favourite books, I didn't realize it started as an essay. This is that essay.

📖 Largest psilocybin trial finds the psychedelic is effective in treating serious depression - Olivia Goldhill - More good signs in trials for psychedelic treatment.

📖 MIT's CSAIL self-driving water taxis launched in the Amsterdam canals - TechCrunch - I'm sure, like with autonomous cars, the last mile/edge cases are what make full autonomy so difficult. But I've always thought autonomous boats must be a bit easier. Cool to see them in action.

📖 ‘It went to my head’: Adam Neumann has regrets about his time at WeWork - NYT - The former CEO of WeWork, Adam Neumann, expressed some regret in a recent interview. He's the main subject of the book Billion Dollar Loser.

🍿 Explore live cams - Need to watch something relaxing? This directory of live nature webcams will give you all kinds of exploring to do. One of my favourites is this one watching bears catch salmon in Alaska.

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